Past Due: 100 Years of Central Library Episode 9 - Library Technology

  • Published

Past Due: 100 Years of Central Library Episode 9 - Library Technology

Join the librarians of the Los Angeles Public Library as they explore some of the library technology we’ve used throughout the last 100 years, from card catalogs to fax machines. We’ll highlight the Science, Technology, and Patents department’s Cookery Ephemera collection and speculate on how the Albert Herter murals survived the 1986 fire.

Transcript

0:00 / 0:00
0:00 / 0:00
Download
Central Library opens book stop

Resources Mentioned

Robyn Interview: Images

  • LAPL Card Catalog 

Music Department card catalog, Los Angeles Public Library
Music Department card catalog, Los Angeles Public Library / Los Angeles Public Library Legacy Collection

  • Spring St. temp location (Title Insurance & Trust Building) 

Magazine Pool, Design Center of Los Angeles
Magazine Pool, Design Center of Los Angeles, [Circa 1990]. Photo credit: Cary Moore Collection/ Los Angeles Photographers Collection
Lobby, Design Center of Los Angeles
Lobby, Design Center of Los Angeles, [Circa 1990]. Photo credit: Cary Moore Collection/ Los Angeles Photographers Collection
History & Genealogy Department
History & Genealogy Department, Design Center of Los Angeles, [Circa 1990]. Photo credit: Cary Moore Collection/ Los Angeles Photographers Collection
Science & Technology Department, Design Center of Los Angeles
Science & Technology Department, Design Center of Los Angeles. (librarian on left– Billie Connor-Dominguez), [Circa 1990]. Photo credit: Cary Moore Collection/ Los Angeles Photographers Collection

  • Date Due Card/TR Card/Punchcard

3 library punchcards

  • RECORDAK

Women at a RECORDAK

Library Mystery

Stella Interview: Images

  • Frigidaire Frozen Delights

Fridigaire pamphlet cover

  • Cold Spot Refrigerator

Cold Spot Refrigerator add
Cold Spot Refrigerator Recipes

  • Aunt Kizzy’s Back Porch Pamphlet

aunt kizzy letter

Participant(s) Bio

robyn-myers-headshot

Robyn Myers started her career in 1976 as a ten-hour messenger clerk.  She worked for several City Departments and came back to the Library in 1986 as a Facility Manager. Robyn retired in 2022, but continues to contribute to the Facility department on a part-time basis.

stella-mittlebach

Stella Mittlebach is a Librarian in the Science, Technology & Patents Department at Central Library. She is the subject specialist for patents and trademarks and one of the librarians responsible for the culinary collection. She studied Film & Television as an undergraduate at UCLA and received her Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from UCLA in 2005.

Josh Sanchez

Josh Sanchez has been a librarian at LAPL since 2024. He has presented on library podcasts at the California Library Association annual conference and is a guest contributor for the Long Beach Public Library’s local history podcast: Don’t Know Beach About History: Short Histories of Long Beach.

Sheridan Jay Cazarez

Moderator: Sheridan Jay Cazarez is a librarian in the Exploration & Creativity Department at the Los Angeles Public Library. He's presented on bilingual early literacy programming, translation practices, and labor advocacy at the REFORMA National, California Library Association, Seguimos Creando Enlaces, and American Library Association conferences. Find his original translations of songs and rhymes for young children on his website, Bibliocuentos.com.